Sebayeng double murder: EFF calls for shutdown of pig farm

POLOKWANE – Leaders of the EFF in Limpopo, members and supporters have called for law enforcement officials to shut down the pig farm where the decomposed and mutilated bodies of two women were found.

The bodies of Mariah Makgato (47) and Lucia Ndlovu (34) were found in a pigsty on a farm in Sebayeng, outside Mankweng, on August 20.

Read more: Women’s bodies found decomposed on farm outside Mankweng

The party’s Limpopo chairperson Lawrence Mapoulo led the call near the farm on Tuesday with a heavy police presence, agreeing with other local party leaders that it was unfair for the crime scene to stay operational, while people had brutally died on it.

The SPCA was also on the scene for the protection of the pigs during the demonstration.

The party’s Alex Ngoasheng also said they were concerned that the pigs could be sold for consumption when they have allegedly eaten human flesh, which is a health hazard.

The owner of the farm Zachariah Olivier (60) and his two employees Adriaan De Wet (19), and William Musoro (45), an illegal foreign national, were arrested on August 21 and appeared in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court last Friday (August 23).

The trio each face charges of two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and defeating the ends of justice, while Musuro also faces a charge of contravening the Immigration Act 13 of 2002.

They will next appear on Friday (August 30) for formal bail applications.

The women’s bodies were discovered after the police were alerted about Makgato’s disappearance after visiting the farm on August 17.

They were accompanied by a 47-year-old foreign national male who was also shot and hospitalised.

It is said the trio trespassed on the farm to collect discarded food with other community members.

Shots were fired at the group, resulting in Makgato and Ndlovu’s deaths.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) regional spokesperson Mashudu Malabi Dzhangi says the surviving witness crawled to the main road and received assistance before he was taken to the hospital.

“Musora, an employee at the farm discovered the bodies of the deceased and reported his discovery to Olivier and De Wet. All three accused proceeded to remove the two deceased bodies from where they died and dumped them into the pig stalls,” her statement read.

She added that the pigs started consuming one of the deceased’s upper body.

Malabi Dzhangi said De Wet is also accused of disposing of the murder weapon along the R81.

Makgatho’s four children relied on their mother as the breadwinner and Ndlovu’s family is struggling to raise funds to repatriate her body to Zimbabwe.

Both families said they did not have funds to bury their loved ones.